Cyber weapons are the hacking tools that enable a cyber soldier to penetrate the computer systems of an enemy's CNI (Critical National Infrastructure), such as their energy and water grids. Once in control of the system, the military doctrine goes, the cyber commander can order their shutdown (or, as we know from Stuxnet, trigger a very damaging explosion) so that within a matter of days the affected society will be reduced to Stone Age technology.

That, at least, is the idea. For the moment, the United States is the acknowledged front-runner as developer of offensive cyber weapons. But the Chinese, the French and the Israelis are snapping at their heels, with the Indians and British not far behind.

The militarisation of cyberspace was foreseeable. Where this is leading us is, by contrast, understood by nobody. Writing in The New Yorker, the ever-perceptive Seymour Hersh teased out the implications of the Chinese having nicked the secrets from the reconnaissance plane's hard drive:

The EP-3E debacle fuelled a long-standing debate within the military and in the Obama Administration. Many military leaders view the Chinese penetration as a warning about present and future vulnerabilities – about the possibility that China, or some other nation, could use its expanding cyber skills to attack Amer- ica's civilian infrastructure and military complex. On the other side are those who argue for a civilian response to the threat, focussed on a wider use of encryption. They fear that an over- reliance on the military will have adverse consequence for privacy and civil liberties.

The urge for the military to establish itself as the chief arbiter of cyber security appears widespread. In October 2010 President Obama charged the National Security Agency, which is part of the Pentagon, with assisting the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector in domestic cyber security. In China the People's Liberation Army is the primary institution governing foreign and domestic cyber security, while in the Middle East the Israeli Defence Force is the inspiration for the extraordinary research into computer warfare, which allows Israel to punch high above its weight in this field.